Countdown
by Grasshopper
Summary: //lover100// Jeremiah’s loyalty to and love for his Empress knew no equal, especially in her final hours. *Jeremiah x girl!Lelouch*


**Title:** Countdown  
**Author:** Grasshopper (A.K.A. The Undertaker's Muse)  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** _Genderswap!_ As in, girl!Lelouch. Or Lulu, as the case may be. ^.^ Angst, romance of a het nature.  
**Fandom:** Code GEASS  
**Challenge:** lover100  
**Prompt:** 044 - Death.  
**Spoilers:** The ending of 02x25, _Re;_ (although this is set before).  
**Pairings:** Jeremiah Gottwald x Lelouch vi Britannia (Lelouch Lamperouge)  
**Summary:** Jeremiah's loyalty to and love for his Empress knew no equal, especially in her final hours.  
**Author's Notes:** Dedicated to **niennasilimaure** (at livejournal) for writing the fic that endeared me to this pairing. I'm not so fond of Jeremiah/Lelouch, but Jeremiah/Lulu? OH, YES. *makes grabby hands*  
**Disclaimer:** All things _Code GEASS_ belong to Sunrise and Bandai. Grassy only lays claim to the plot.

* * *

"Under any other circumstance, I'd suggest you get some rest." Jeremiah ran his callused thumbs under his Empress's eyes. Not even her makeup could entirely hide the dark rings that betrayed her exhaustion.

Lulu smiled. "After tomorrow, I'll have all the time in the world to rest."

Jeremiah knelt before his lady, pillowing his head upon her lap. He knew what would happen. He knew what he would - and would **not** - do. The time until his Empress's death counted down in his mind's eye. Every moment brought them closer and closer to the end.

Slim, dexterous fingers stroked Jeremiah's hair, trembling ever so minutely. If he could, Jeremiah would surround Her Highness with himself. Would take her away and protect her from the world that hated her. But Jeremiah's loyalty was equal to his love and there would be no altering the course of Lulu's plans.

"Will you hear a request from me, Jeremiah Gottwald?" Lulu's voice was steady, even if the hands upon him were not.

"Whatever you desire from me is yours." Jeremiah already knew her request; it had been the same every night for nigh on a month.

"Stay with me, tonight."

"As you wish." He'd planned to do so even had she not asked.

"Thank you, Jeremiah." A lock of dark hair brushed Jeremiah's face as Lulu pressed a soft kiss upon the unadorned side of his brow. "For everything you have done. For everything you will do."

"No other has ever commanded such loyalty from me. Not even Queen Marianne." Jeremiah felt, rather than heard, her soft laugh at his words.

"I know." She resumed stroking his hair with an edge of intensity to her movements. He shivered in anticipation of what was to come. This final night, **her** final night, would garner no rest.

Jeremiah unfolded himself from before Her Majesty, taking that slim, beloved figure into his arms. Empress Lulu had lost a great deal of weight over the past several weeks; weight she didn't have to spare. The white and gold folds of her jewel-bedecked robes hid her near-skeletal frame well. Jeremiah would have cried, were he not so diligently holding himself back. There would be more than enough time to cry after... After. Tonight, his duty was to be with his one and only Empress. His duty and his pleasure, tainted though it was by sadness.

"In another life... If things had been different... I think I would have been happy to have you as my husband." Lulu's words were barely a whisper, muffled by the press of her face into the collar of his uniform jacket.

Jeremiah understood the implication hidden within her words. "I would have done everything in my power to ensure your happiness."

The soft upturn of her lips showed that she, too, understood the meaning of his reply. "I'd expect nothing less of you, Jeremiah. Even now, you do all that you are capable of. So I ask one last thing of you, the one most loyal to me."

"As Her Majesty wishes."

"Once your duties to me are completed, then I ask that you **live**."

"I..."

"There's always a reason for living. It just has to be found."

Were Jeremiah anyone else, he might have smiled at the irony of Lulu's words. But Jeremiah felt nothing of humor, not when his heart was breaking apart with every moment that passed. He felt the countdown to her approaching death with every beat of his heart.

So he just held on, feeling the warmth of her within his arms. Jeremiah committed to memory the entirety of his Empress; the shape and scent of the only woman in his world. The woman who **was** his world. Too soon, Jeremiah would be left with nothing **but** memories of Her Majesty Lulu vi Britannia, 99th Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire.

The clock struck, announcing the hour of a brand new day.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
